Taking a page out of his predecessor’s playbook, President Joe Biden’s administration announced on Tuesday that it is raising tariffs on Chinese goods across several sectors the White House believes to be strategically important.
Citing concerns about China’s “unfair trade practices,” the Biden administration announced that it is sharply increasing taxes on a variety of Chinese imports, including steel and aluminum, semiconductors, electric vehicles, and critical minerals, according to a White House fact sheet.
“Today’s actions to counter China’s unfair trade practices are carefully targeted at strategic sectors—the same sectors where the United States is making historic investments under President Biden to create and sustain good-paying jobs—unlike recent proposals by Congressional Republicans that would threaten jobs and raise costs across the board,” the White House said, adding that Trump’s China trade policies “failed to increase American exports or boost American manufacturing.”
Under the Biden plan, steel tariffs will increase from 7.5 percent to 25 percent this year. Semiconductor tariffs will spike from 25 percent to 50 percent by next year. In 2022, Biden signed the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act to subsidize U.S. semiconductor manufacturing and to pour resources into research and development.
Semiconductors are widely viewed as a key part of the United States’ strategic competition with China and an essential component of manufacturing a variety of goods.
The U.S. will raise its tariff on Chinese electric vehicles from 25 percent to 100 percent this year as the Biden administration deploys a variety of subsidies and regulations to promote the American electric vehicle sector over traditional gas-powered vehicles. A poll earlier this month, first reported by National Review, found Biden’s electric vehicle policy is broadly unpopular among swing-state voters.
In addition, the Biden administration is increasing tariffs on lithium-ion electric vehicle batteries and battery parts from 7.5 to 25 percent this year. Tariffs for lithium-ion non-electric vehicle batteries will spike from 7.5 percent to 25 percent two years from now, and tariffs on non-graphite magnets will go from zero to 25 percent in 2026. The tariffs for other critical minerals will also go up from zero to 25 percent this year.
Biden is also set to announce his support for maintaining over $300 billion of tariffs implemented by former president Donald Trump, Biden’s predecessor and the GOP’s presumptive 2024 nominee, the New York Times reported.
For his part, Trump is also promising a significant increase in tariffs if he wins another term. Tariffs were a signature policy of the Trump administration and represented a major shift in U.S. policy towards China. Some conservatives embraced Trump’s tariffs as a way to prioritize American industry, while others criticized the approach for taxing consumers and moving away from free market principles.
Both candidates are seeking to win toss-up Rust Belt states, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin in November. A tough-on-China approach and support for American industry is expected to play well with blue-collar workers across the Rust Belt. Trump and Biden have made appealing to blue-collar workers a central component of their respective political identities.
A new poll from the New York Times and Siena College showed Trump leading Biden in five swing states, including Michigan and Pennsylvania. Other polls have shown that Americans believe Trump would do a better job handling the economy than Biden.